And, I wrap up the Top 25 of the Past 25 Years and almost four months ahead of schedule. Take that TwoBusy. Come back tomorrow when I announce a contest to win a copy of Ghostbusters: The Video Game for the Wii.
Now, on to the music.
The Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
In order to allay TwoBusy's fears that I won't finish this meme, here are #15-#6 in my Top 25 of the last 25 years.
Gene Loves Jezebel - Desire (Come and Get It)
The Cult - Love Removal Machine
Love Spit Love - Am I Wrong
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Someday I Suppose
I meant to write about all this earlier, but I was on vacation. Twenty years ago, May 25, 1989, I left the comfortable confines of my parents' house for basic training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. I sit here flabbergasted at how quickly time goes by and how events eventually unfold. I believe in those "forks in the road" moments - that these decisions I made then ultimately brought me here now. This is a first installment (of not too many) about the 16 or so weeks I spent at Fort Sill - some of it is blurry and I won't/can't include everything, just some of the highlights.
The alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. I had been waiting a while for it to finally sound - maybe an hour or more - and when it did I took it as my cue to finally get out of bed. I mistakenly thought I would be able to sleep that night, but three hours would have to suffice. I wished it were more - it would be a long enough day without the nerves-induced sleep deprivation. I showered, got dressed, grabbed the duffle bag at the end of the bed and went downstairs.
My parents met me in the kitchen shortly thereafter and together we awaited the arrival of SSG Tucker who would take me to the MEPS Station in Boston. There I would receive my orders, plane tickets, sundry other paperwork and be administered an oath of enlistment before winging my way to DFW and, eventually, Lawton, Oklahoma, home to Fort Sill and the Field Artillery Training Center.
My father broke the awkward silence. "Are you okay?" he asked, knowing full well that I was a bundle of nerves - excited and somewhat scared shitless of what I signed on to do. My parents saw the same look on my brother's face when they dropped him off at West Point three years prior. "I'll tell you what I told your brother: keep your sense of humor; laugh inside. It's all a game and you're smart enough to do well. And take advantage of every opportunity that's presented to you."
I nodded and said I would. But what was going to be funny? Having seen Full Metal Jacket several times, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman didin't look like your typical stand-up comedian and Stripes really wasn't a documentary by any stretch - unless your director is Rob Reiner. No, I didn't think basic training was going to be all fun and games. And I didn't believe for one minute that I would come home the same person that was sitting in this kitchen now. At least, I sincerely hoped I wouldn't.
I wrote about my reasons for joining the Army some time ago. I was a mess. In a rut. Going nowhere fast. Choose whatever cliche you have for someone who's pissing his life away, amp it up a bit and that was me. I needed to get out of Weymouth; away from everything I was allowing to hold me back. Enlisting seemed just as good an opportunity to "find myself" and I would get the chance to hike across Europe - only instead of bunking in hostels, I would find comfort in an extreme cold weather sleeping bag on a cot in a GP Small.
SSG Tucker was a little early so he joined us at the kitchen table for a cup of coffee. He asked my parents if they had any questions about what would happen at the MEPS Station or after my arrival at Fort Sill. They asked general questions: How often can they call home? What happens over the next few days? When do things really start? I wasn't really paying much attention to the answers, I was looking at the clock and making sure I had my Walkman and some good tapes to listen to on the plane. Finally, SSG Tucker wrapped things up with a "Well, it's that time."
I won't deny it. There was a part of at that very moment that just wanted to say, "You know, I think I've changed my mind. Sorry to get everyone up so early. My bad. Carry on." But instead, I stood up, shook my dad's hand and then hugged him. Then I hugged my mother and kissed her on the cheek. She wasn't even trying to hide the fact that she was crying. We then made our way to the front door, said more good-byes and some thank you's ("Thanks for the coffee - it was great," said Tucker. "Great?" I said to myself - dude, it was Taster's Choice - army coffee must be piss. Great.). I walked across the yard to Charon's ferry a car that would come across on an APB as a nondescript, dark-colored, sedan - the only outstanding characteristic: its blue and white government plates. I slid into the passenger seat, looked back at the front door and waved to my parents, who, in what might have been a trick of the early morning darkness, looked rather relieved.
It was 4:30 a.m. and I was on my way - one hour into what would turn out to be a very long day.
April 9.
That was the last time I was here. April 9. So much has happened in that time. There was...um...well there was...no, that didn't happen to me. Well, there had to be something that would keep me from blogging, right? I'm not just a lazy sumbitch, am I? No, not me. No, I'm a prolific writer, as long as my writing is kept to 140 characters or fewer. I did post over at The Whinery if that counts. And I have a couple of posts in the hopper over at Uptake, so I'm not entirely slacking.
So, why am I here today? The reasons are two-fold. One, I figured I should probably post near my blogging anniversary. For four years I've been bringing the poignant and teh funny to you all. Okay, okay, maybe not always all that poignant or teh funny (see that? "teh" - isn't that funny? Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?) but at least I can get a C for effort right? C-? Wow, you guys are tough. The second reason I'm here is that I owe some props to the winner of my giveaway. Yeah, the one I promised to announce on April 15th. Didn't you just read about how busy I've been? Okay, moving along now. Well, Kevin did all the dirty work save for one question, it was Sarah-come-lately who mopped it up and provided the final correct answer. I'm not about to print them all here, if you want to know the answers, just look at Kevin's comment and then see Sarah's. What? Wow, I thought I was lazy. Okay, here you go:
502 - in Feet - Longest Measured Home Run inside Fenway Park
47,627 - Largest Crowd at Fenway Park - September 22, 1935
762* - Home Runs Hit by Barry Bonds (like the steriod asterik)
232 - Days the '94 Baseball Strike Lasted
30 - Major League Baseball Teams
20 - Innings in Longest Game Played at Fenway Park
33 - Righthanded Starting Pitchers in Hall of Fame 33 Red Sox Players in the Hall of Fame
2,632 - Consecutive Games Played by Cal Ripken, Jr.
5,714 - Most Strike Outs
4,256 - Most Hits (held by Pete Rose)
So, Sarah, you know how to get in touch with me, send your mailing info. And Kevin, I owe you a consolation beer the next time your up my way.
Just so you don't think I'm a total recluse or that nothing ever happens around here, next week, Mrs. Big Dubya and I will be joining one of my oldest friends and his wife - oldest in the length of time I've known him, not old as in age, though he is four days older than I - Happy Birthday (again) A! - for a B-52s show at House of Blues. I'll be breaking out some Day-Glo and Mrs. Big Dubya is readying her bouffant - Quiche La Poodle! And, rumor has it, someone else will be there that night. Dance this mess around!
So, I think I have a problem. I think I play too many shooters. I got this game, Backyard Baseball 2010, to review and give away. Great, I thought to myself, a new game and, more importantly, a new game for the Wii and one which I can share with readers. Boo-yah. Win-win. I fired up the Wii last night, stretched (dude, I'm nearly 42-years-old - I stretch to brush my teeth) and prepared myself for a little hard ball. I stacked my team with some pros - Big Papi, CC Sabathia, Josh Hamilton, among others - and some kids and prepared to face off against cough the Royals cough. Time for an ass-whuppin'. Little did I know it would be mine.
Just a quick note: I never read the manual for a game. I break that puppy out of its case, put it in the tray and away we go. Not the way to go with this game. RTFM! I was wondering why my curve ball was grooving the center of the plate; why my slider decided to grow the size of a beach ball as it hit the strike zone; and why my change up was the equivalent of hitting it off a tee. Turns out, had I read the manual, I would have learned I can actually change the location with the nunchuck. Heh, go figure. Maybe should have learned that before I was six runs in the hole. Note to self. As competitive as I am, I was little annoyed at getting shelled by the f'in Royals so I wanted to throw inside to little Kenny - a little towheaded left-fielder who had some slugging power - but the controller kept vibrating and getting angrier and angrier that I wanted to throw outside the strike zone - my game has a conscience? Son-of-a....Know what else I learned? Can't charge the mound when a pitcher gets a little close either. My gamer instinct tells me I should be able to beat the pitcher about the head and shoulders with the bat until he's a bloody pulp (Maniac on the Mound Achievement, 20 pts. FTW!), but the Wii is too cute and nice to let that happen. Silly non-violent video games.
Anyway, once I got the feel for the game, it was quite enjoyable to play, I especially liked that I was able to work on some hitting in the Home Run Derby as it does take some time to get the timing down pat. It's also nice to go yard 596 ft. deep too. Some other highlights:
* All 32 MLB teams, logos, uniforms.
* Updated roster with pros from every team including David Ortiz, Ken Griffey Jr., Ichiro, Alex Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero, Ryan Howard.
* Season play with stats & standings.
* Tournament & All Star modes.
* Improved game controls for precise & intuitive hitting, pitching, fielding.
* Superior gameplay—more variety, options, rewards.
* New fields, lighting, art, unlockables.
* Custom Players and teams.
* New audio—improved scripting, voice, play-by-play.
* New personalized player announcing (kids can have their own name in the game).
* Hall of Fame Kid teams from previous version of Backyard Baseball.
* Multiple levels of difficulty.
It was a fun game to play - it would be nice if Atari could release some downloadable content, though. Maybe they could introduce a zombie team. And, oh, oh, a team of ninjas. Nijas vs. zombies in Backyard Baseball. How cool is that?
I'm giving away a copy (maybe two) of this newly release title. Here's how you win: remember those number puzzles that got passed around during your early cubicle rat days? (Example: 26 L of the A=26 Letters of the Alphabet) Well, below you'll find a baseball-themed (maybe heavy on the Red Sox, who knows) one for you to try and answer. The winner (or winners - depends how magnanimous I'm feeling on Tax Day) will be the first to answer them all correctly and will be announced Wednesday, April 15. For another chance to win and a completely different contest, go to www.dadcentric.com.
502 - in F - L M H R inside F P
47,627 - L C at F P - September 22, 1935
762* - H R H by B B
232 - D the '94 B S L
30 - M L B T
20 - I in L G P at F P
33 - R S P in H of F
2,632 - C G P by C R, Jr.
5,714 - M S O
4,256 - M H (held by P R)
